“Prepare your minds for action” is the admonition of 1 Peter 1:13. That’s proactive apologetics. In this category I want to help you apply a biblical worldview.
It was the first day of a college journalism class, and I was practically dizzy with idealistic anticipation. Then it happened. As the professor was introducing the syllabus, he came to the subject of “straight news reporting,” the meat of journalism. The phrase describes those news stories that pepper the front page and evokes images of gutsy journalists chasing Pulitzers. It supposedly distinguishes the reporting of news events from features or comics or, more importantly,…
“Fake news” is hardly new. Journalists, media spokespersons, and school yard gossips have been faking news since the day Eve pointed at Adam and said, “He made me do it.” But based on the attention it has received the last two years, you would think no one had ever heard of it before Donald Trump came along. Last weekend President Trump revealed that he met with New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger on July 20.…
The HBO series Westworld, based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film, revisits one of the most complex themes in science fiction, Artificial Intelligence (AI). The term “AI” distinguishes the natural intelligence of animals and humans from that of machines. Think Alexa and Siri. We tend to be just as afraid as we are fascinated with AI. In science fiction, the portrayals of advanced AI range from robots who are confused (Star Trek TNG, and Bicentennial…
I wrote this blog in 2018, and it seems especially relevant again. Today, February 18, 2020, the Scouts announced that the organization was filing for bankruptcy. We should mourn the loss of this once great organization, and we should be deeply concerned about what it says about our culture. The purpose of this corporation shall be to promote, through organization and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and…
Last week the editors of GQ.com published a piece called “21 Books You Don’t Have To Read.” They wrote the blog in response to the long-held idea that some books are “great books” which everyone should read. But they excised these 21 books from their list of great books because, the editors sniffled, “Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just really, really boring.” For the moment, we will pretend like we…
In early April, American Atheists placed its president, David Silverman, on leave in response to an unspecified complaint. Silverman serves as a high-profile voice against religion in America. He frequently appears on news programs, and in recent years led the organization in a well-publicized attack against Christmas. Or, at least, against the celebration of Christmas. A spokesman for the organization, Nick Fish, said that the complaint resulted from “alleged violations of the American Atheists code…
Lately, I find myself quoting C.S. Lewis a lot. Not that I agree with his particular slant on everything. But what I do agree with resonates with me so much that I want other people to see things that way, and to encounter this extraordinary intellect that God saved from atheism and transformed into one of the 20th century’s most influential Christian apologists. Take Easter, for instance. When Lewis reflected on Easter, he used the…
Three weeks after Billy Graham crossed the confines of time and entered eternity, so did physicist Stephen Hawking. In this life, both were focused, effective, influential, and intensely missional. And then both met their Creator. One was embraced, his arrival anticipated and heralded in heaven. (Psalm 116:15). The other was dismissed, forever tragically separated from the Creator he had spent his earthly existence denying. And both determined that destiny in this life. Hawking, who suffered…
Hollywood’s annual season of self-congratulations wraps up this Sunday night with the Academy Awards. No doubt host Jimmy Kimmel, the presenters, and the recipients will continue to advocate for the #MeToo and the Time’s Up movements, designed to draw attention to, and hopefully start ending, sexual harassment in Hollywood. Good for them! It’s about time actors and their ilk used their time on stage for something other than more self-promotion. #MeToo and Time’s Up are…
In case you’ve been asleep this week, here’s a summary of the absurdity. On the Feb. 12 episode of Big Brother, Omarosa Newman, former White House staffer, pontificated about immigration and impeachment. While chatting, she felt it her obligation to warn America that the only thing worse than having Trump as president would be having Vice-President Pence in his place. Why? Because Pence is a committed Christian who believes his relationship with Christ includes regular…